Derek Jacobi

An ancient skeleton has been discovered in Jerusalem in a rich man's tomb. Colouration of the wrist and leg bones indicates the cause of death was crucifiction. other signs, include a gold coin bearing the marks of Pontius Pilate and faint markings around the skull, lead authorities to suspect that these could be the bones of Christ. Politicians, clerics, religious extremists and those using terror as a means to an end, find their beliefs and identities test while risking their lives to unearth the truth (imdb)

Mike Church (Branagh) is an L.A. gumshoe with a knack for tossing off wisecracks and tracking down missing persons. But Church doesn't have a clue when he's hired to help a beautiful amnesia victim (Thompson) tormented by bloodcurdling nightmares. Then an eccentric antiques dealer and hypnotist (Derek Jacobi) leads Church to a startling discovery: The source of the nightmares may lie in a past-life connection to Margaret Strauss, a world-famous pianist allegedly murdered by her composer-husband Roman... in 1948. (Paramount)

Set in Roman times, the story of a once-powerful general forced to become a common gladiator, rising through the ranks of the arena.

Set in the 1930s the story takes place in an old fashioned English country house where a family has invited many of their friends up for a weekend shooting party. The story centers around the McCordle family, particularly the man of the house, William McCordle. Getting on in years William has become benefactor to many of his relatives and friends. As the weekend goes on and secrets are revealed, it seems everyone, above stairs and below, wants a piece of William and his money, but how far will they go to get it? (imdb)

Australian director Paul Cox visualizes the diary of the legendary dancer/choreographer who was declared insane at the height of his career. (Film Forum)

A comedy drama based on the true story of two British Army dentists who in 1942, eager to see action, go AWOL and invade occupied France on their own. (Guerilla Films)

Somerset Maugham was a master teller of stories about superficial people who are revealed and drastically changed by circumstance or luck. His novella Up at the Villa is a tale of death, seduction, blackmail and theft among British and Americans in Florence in the turbulent days just before World War II. The film, despite an outstanding cast including Kristin Scott Thomas, Anne Bancroft, Sean Penn and Derek Jacobi, is strangely mannered and rather flat, more like a waltz than the tango Maugham might have had in mind. (imdb)

Underworld: Evolution continues the saga of war between the aristocratic Death Dealers and the barbaric Lycans (werewolves). The film traces the beginnings of the ancient feud between the two tribes as the beautiful vampire heroine Selene (Beckinsale) discovers that she has been betrayed by her own kind and seeks her revenge.

In this dark and witty fable, Emma Thompson portrays a person of unsettling appearance and magical powers who enters the household of the recently widowed Mr. Brown (Firth) and attempts to tame his seven ill-behaved children. (Universal Pictures)

A professional assassin codenamed "Jackal" plots to kill Charles de Gaulle, the President of France. (imdb)

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother remarrying the murderer, his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing. (imdb)

To save her ill son, a field mouse must seek the aid of a colony of super-intelligent rats, in whom she has a deeper link to than she ever suspected. (imdb)

The gritty adaption of William Shakespeare's play about the English King's bloody conquest of France. (imdb)

"Little Dorrit" was released to theaters in two parts, each running approximately three hours. The first part, subtitled "Nobody's Fault," introduced us to the seamstress title character, who chooses to live in debtor's prison with her father. Good Samaritan Arthur Clennam endeavors to help both father and daughter. The second part, also known as "Little Dorrit's Story," details Dorrit's escape from penury to lasting happiness. (AllMovie)

A comprehensive survey of the American Civil War. (imdb)

Quasimodo, the hunchback bellringer of Notre Dame's cathedral meets a beautiful gypsy dancer, Esmeralda, and falls in love with her. So does Quasimodo's guardian, the archdeacon of the cathedral, and a poor street poet. But Esmeralda's in love with a handsome soldier. But when a mob mistakes her for a witch, it's up to Quasimodo to rescue her and claim sanctuary for her in the cathedral. (imdb)

In the 1960s, British painter Francis Bacon (1909-1992) surprises a burglar and invites him to share his bed. The burglar, a working class man named George Dyer, 30 years Bacon's junior, accepts. Bacon finds Dyer's amorality and innocence attractive, introducing him to his Soho pals. In their sex life, Dyer dominates, Bacon is the masochist... (imdb)

After reading the diary of an eldery Jewish man who commited suicide, freelance journalist Peter Miller begins to investigate the alleged sighting of a former SS-Captain who commanded a concentration camp during World War II. Miller eventually finds himself involved with the powerful organization of former SS members, called ODESSA, as well as with the Israeli secret service. Miller probes deeper and eventually discovers a link between the SS-Captain, ODESSA, and his own family. (imdb)

John Morlar (Richard Burton) is watching the British television broadcast when an anchorman states that American astronauts are trapped in orbit around the moon. Suddenly someone in Morlar's room picks up a figurine and strikes him on the head repeatedly. His blood splatters the television screen... (imdb)

An ambitious London sports journalist, an enigmatic tramp and a police press officer team up to solve a series of murders that follow the discovery of an unpublished manuscript by Charles Dickens in a present day Thames-side pub. (imdb)

A love story offering an intimate look inside the marriage of Winston and Clementine Churchill (Albert Finney and Vanessa Redgrave) during a particularly troubled, though little-known, moment in their lives... (imdb)

The Golden Compass is an exciting fantasy adventure, set in an alternative world where people's souls manifest themselves as animals, talking bears fight wars, and Gyptians and witches coexist. At the center of the story is Lyra, a 12-year-old girl who starts out trying to rescue a friend who's been kidnapped by a mysterious organization known as the Gobblers--and winds up on an epic quest to save not only her world, but ours as well. (New Line Cinema)

Hal Tara is the son of The Kahro of the city of Hebalon and heir to the throne. When The Kahro kills himself, Hal is chosen to taken his place to rule Hebalon. But after the discovery of The Kahro's suicide letter, that his father's death was no suicide, and was conducted by rivals of the city known as The Zeriths, Hal disguise himself as a commoner leaves the city and sets out to find the Zeriths and avenge his father... (imdb)

One of the most legendary adventures in all mythology is brought to life in Jason and the Argonauts, an epic saga of good and evil. As a mere boy Jason, the heir to the kingdom of Ancient Greece, witnesses the murder of his father at the hands of his ruthless uncle, Pelias. After narrowly escaping death, Jason flees his home and returns twenty years later to reclaim the throne... (imdb)

Espionage drama adapted from a Graham Greene novel. The directors of the British foreign intelligence service MI6 have determined that a double agent in the organization is supplying information to the Soviets. (IMDB)

This Cold War thriller stars Martin Sheen as Alex Holbeck, a CIA agent dispatched to Berlin in order to infiltrate Soviet intelligence and obtain secrets from the Russian "Enigma" decoder. Holbeck's background as an East German defector helps him get inside, but soon his cover is blown and Holbeck is forced to seek help from an ex-lover, evading the KGB as time is running out and the lives of five Soviet dissidents hang in the balance. (moviesunlimited.com)

Desdemona defies her father to marry the Moor of Venice, the mighty warrior, Othello. But Othello's old lieutenant, Iago, doesn't like Othello, and is determined to bring about the downfall of Othello's new favorite, Cassio, and destroy Othello in the process, by casting aspersions on Othello's new bride. (imdb)

"Adam Resurrected" follows the story of Adam Stein, a charismatic patient at a mental institution for Holocaust survivors in Israel, 1961. He reads minds and confounds his doctors, lead by Nathan Gross. Before the war, in Berlin, Adam was an entertainer--cabaret impresario, circus owner, magician, musician--loved by audiences and Nazis alike until he finds himself in a concentration camp, confronted by Commandant Klein... (imdb)

A clash of wills arises as the Duke of Hereford, Henry Bolingbroke, goes up against King Richard II for the English throne in this retelling of Shakespeare's play.

In Claymation, we see the story of Achilles. He loves Patroclus; they carry that love with them when the Greeks seek revenge on Troy. After nine years of assault on the city, Achilles goes into a funk and withdraws from the battle when he decides that Agamemnon, the Greek king, has denied him his due spoils, a captured Trojan slave girl. (imdb)

This is a story of a French advocate Chavel who, while imprisoned by the Germans during the occupation, trades his material possessions for his life with another prisoner when condemned to the firing squad. At the end of the war, Chavel, posing as one of the other prisoners, returns to his home which is now occupied by the prisoner's sister, Therese, who bitterly awaits the return of the man who had indirectly caused the death of her brother. (imdb)

Follows the history of the Roman Empire, from the death of Marcellus to Claudius' own death. As Claudius narrates his life, we witness Augustus' attempts to find an heir, often foiled by his wife Livia who wants her son Tiberius to become emperor.

A story based on the covert discussions that brought down the Apartheid regime in South Africa. (imdb)

Hamlet comes home from university to find his uncle married to his mother, and his father's ghost haunting the battlements and scaring the watch. Then his father's ghost directs him to seek revenge. (imdb)

When a spoiled English girl living in 19th century India loses both parents in a cholera epidemic, she is sent back to England to live in a country mansion. The lord is a strange old man-- frail and deformed, immensely kind but so melancholy. She wishes to discover what has caused him so much sorrow and to bring joy back to the household. It all must have something to do with the screams and wails which echo through the house at night and no one wants to talk about. (imdb)

The true story of the 19th century priest who volunteered to go to the island of Molokai, to console and care for the lepers. (imdb)

The Doctor, a time-traveling alien explorer, is sent by his people, the Time Lords, to liberate a small town in England from the tyrannical rule of a race of alien lava creatures called the Shalka. This full-length animated adventure, originally broadcast on-line on the BBC's official Doctor Who web site, is the first adventure of the ninth Doctor, Richard E. Grant. (imdb)

A biography of the English mathematician Alan Turing, who was one of the inventors of the digital computer and one of the key figures in the breaking of the Enigma code, used by the Germans to send secret orders to their U-boats in World War II. Turing was also a homosexual in Britain at a time when this was illegal, besides being a security risk. (imdb)

A documentary on the history of the sport with major topics including Afro-American players, player/team owner relations and the resilience of the game. (imdb)

Clint Eastwood directs this supernatural thriller about three very different people and their responses to death, including a hesitant American psychic named George (Matt Damon) who may be able to help the others find answers and peace. Marie (Cécile De France) is a French journalist caught up in the aftereffects of the devastating 2004 tsunami, while in London, young Marcus (Frankie McLaren) seeks to contact his deceased twin brother.

Tom Hooper directs this drama based on the true story of Britain's King George VI (Colin Firth), a man who for years struggled with a nervous disposition and an embarrassing stutter -- until he seeks help from unorthodox Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). Logue's pioneering treatment and unlikely friendship give the royal leader a sense of confidence that serves him and his country well during the dark days of World War II.

A dramatization of the life of Albert Speer, Hitler's young architect and onetime confidant, and his meteoric rise into the Nazi hierarchy. Based upon Speer's own monograph of the same title. (imdb)

At the age of forty Dame Margot Fonteyn is considered to be past her best as a prima ballerina and Ninette de Valois is reducing her roles at the Royal Ballet. Then the exciting young Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev, a recent defector to the West, comes into her life and her bed and revitalizes her career. Frederick Aashton creates a new ballet for them and they become the golden couple of the ballet world.

Huxley is a monkey. He is imprisoned in a lab, forced to take part in a 'Monkey typing Shakespeare' experiment by a sadistic lab assistant. Secretly he harbors dreams of playing Hamlet. Can Huxley escape from his tormentors and realize his theatrical dreams? Who says a monkey can't play Shakespeare? (imdb)

A political thriller about who actually wrote the plays of William Shakespeare-- Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford-- set against the backdrop of the succession of Queen Elizabeth I, and the Essex Rebellion against her. (imdb)

Arising out of the horror of the Spanish Civil War, a candidate for canonization is investigated by a journalist who discovers his own estranged father had a deep, dark and devastating connection to the saint's life.

In 13th century a determined group of Knights Templar defends Rochester Castle against the tyrannical King John. (imdb)

A sleazy Hollywood agent tricks one of his clients, a faded action star, into playing King Lear in an amateur charity production in England.

Colin Clark, an employee of Sir Laurence Olivier's, documents the tense interaction between Olivier and Marilyn Monroe during production of The Prince and the Showgirl. (imdb)

Documentary showing the history of the world-famous Statue of Liberty in New York harbor. (imdb)

An unusually nasty butler takes over the possessions of his degenerate master by means of witchcraft. (imdb)

A kindly shop owner whose overwhelming gambling debts allow a greedy landlord to seize his shop of dusty treasures. Evicted and with no way to pay his debts, he and his granddaughter flee.

A documentary on the subject of the collections of books, instruments and medical anomalies at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia and the Mutter Museum housed there. This short film represents the first to be made by the internationally recognized Quay Brothers in the United States. While not a stop-motion animation film, a form for which the Quays are best known, the entire film is vibrantly constructed and 'animated'. (imdb)

After precipitating the death of a tenant with whom he has been feuding, Squire Fairfield brings the dead man's young daughter to live in Wyvern Manor. Alice grows up thinking the squire is her kind benefactor, and falls in love with one of his two sons. When the squire makes his romantic intentions known to Alice, she and Charles elope, incurring the wrath of his father... (Written by Ron Kerrigan (imdb)

An this installment of David Macaulay's World of Ancient Engineering, viewers are introduced to the marvels of the Roman city, an astonishing achievement of civil engineering. More than a dry recounting, Macaulay's tales are narratives as well, with characters facing real dilemmas. Parents in search of videos to watch with their children will find this of value. (rottentomatoes.com)

The story of former Hollywood star Grace Kelly's crisis of marriage and identity, during a political dispute between Monaco's Prince Rainier III and France's Charles De Gaulle, and a looming French invasion of Monaco in the early 1960s. (imdb)

A documentary about the 1944 mass escape from the German prisoner of war camp Stalag Luft III for British and Commonwealth airmen that eventually was dramatized by the famous film "The Great Escape"

The story of "Cinderella" follows the fortunes of young Ella whose merchant father remarries following the tragic death of her mother. Keen to support her loving father, Ella welcomes her new stepmother Lady Tremaine and her daughters Anastasia and Drizella into the family home. But, when Ella's father suddenly and unexpectedly passes away, she finds herself at the mercy of a jealous and cruel new family. (imdb)

A look at the mysterious relationship between Victorian art critic John Ruskin and his teenage bride Effie Gray. (effiegraymovie.com)

Set in the Spain of 1680, a time of torture and interrogation by the Grand Inquisitor. A young man appears that is healing the sick and raising the dead. There are rumours that he might be the second coming of the Messiah. He is brought before the Grand Inquisitor. Though questioned and tortured, he chooses to remain silent. (imdb)

Freddie and Stuart are an old gay couple who have been together for nearly 50 years. Their lives now revolve around entertaining their frequent guests and hurling insults at each other at every opportunity. (imdb)

A Crusader-turned-Monk uses his botanical knowledge to solve mysteries in the old Norman England town of Shrewsbury.

A British Special Boat Service commando tracks down an international terrorist cell. (imdb)

The story of a long-lost book that mysteriously reappears and connects an old man searching for his son with a girl seeking a cure for her mother's loneliness. (imdb)

An older couple is reunited after decades apart, thanks to the Internet. (Netflix)

The true story of Pinochet's surprise arrest for crimes against humanity in 1998. Then retired, the 82-year-old former dictator went to Great Britain for a vacation that was to forever change his life--and the prospects for dictators across the globe. (HBO)

A lavish train ride unfolds into a stylish & suspenseful mystery. From the novel by Agatha Christie, Murder on the Orient Express tells of thirteen stranded strangers & one man's race to solve the puzzle before the murderer strikes again. (imdb)

Tyneside ship-builder Joe Maddison lost his faith in the trenches at the Somme in 1916. Now that World War Two has begun he is too old to enlist alongside his son and son-in-law and is also in a reserved occupation so, after his wife Polly has left him for a sailor, he joins the Home Guard with his friends, Marxist Eddie and cynical,wise-cracking Harry.

Maestro Zubin Mehta introduces the history of Zoroastrianism and prophet Zarathushtra in an epic that covers 3500 years of the Zoroastrians, Parsees of India. (imdb)

Lara Croft, the fiercely independent daughter of a missing adventurer, must push herself beyond her limits when she finds herself on the island where her father disappeared. (imdb)

Mist may no longer be a puppy, but she still has much to learn about life as a Borough farm sheepdog. But with Swift, Ernie, Jake, Fern and her Mother Gail around, Mist has all of the help she needs to cope with the host of animals that live at Borough farm. 'Mist - sheepdog tales' are thirteen individual stories, telling of Mist's first adventures as she sets out in life as a fully-fledged working sheepdog. (imdb)

A magical forest is populated with large daisies, brightly-colored pom pom flowers, and a large cast of colourful characters. (wikipedia)

Tolkien explores the formative years of the orphaned author as he finds friendship, love and artistic inspiration among a group of fellow outcasts at school. (imdb)

A working class man impersonates a Lord who is supposedly very rich, and a financial wizard. As such, he is invited to all the best peoples' parties. In fact, he is not, and his wealth and expertise are more in the minds of his associates than in reality. Interestingly, despite the large social gap between the two classes, there are many similarities in what goes on in both within this story. This can be seen as the main character switches back and forth between his charade as a peer, and his re

A tale of women's empowerment, The Warrior Queen of Jhansi tells the true story of Lakshmibai, the historic Queen of Jhansi who fiercely led her army against the British East India Company in the infamous mutiny of 1857. (imdb)

Atti, a smart and quick-witted Roman teenager, manages to upset Emperor Nero with one of his schemes. For punishment, Atti is sent to work in a cold and wet Britain where he also meets the Celts. (imdb)

Peter Pan and his sister, Alice, embark on adventures to Neverland and Wonderland. (imdb)

A series of colorized archive footage of important events during World War II. (imdb)

A lovely short story of a little boy that can see ghosts and monsters every day. (imdb)

The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society hijack a BBC production of A Christmas Carol. (imdb)

4 episodes showing the lives of characters in 1960's London who live, love, and suffer through their association with the charismatic charms of gay gangster Harry Starks.

The story of a geriatric ward in a small Yorkshire hospital threatened with closure. (imdb)

Follows Lucius, the son of Maximus' love Lucilla, after Maximus' death. (imdb)

The construction of the R.M.S. Titanic at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast against the background of union riots, political and religious conflicts, and a romance between a young ambitious engineer and an Italian immigrant. (imdb)

After a violent storm, Ali awakens on a deserted beach, sick and disoriented. They'll be looking for him and he must keep moving. Ivan, a local Cuban, takes Ali to the apartment of his sister Manuela, a dancer in Havana. At first, she is apprehensive to take in this tormented stranger, but she relents as she feels drawn to this mysterious person who has shown up on her door step. Ali is haunted by nightmares, which bring him to the horror of the interrogation room at Guantanamo, and by startling